Never one of the most popular players outside his Chelsea heartland, Terry's recent court case seems to have turned even more fans against him. He was jeered by Manchester City's fans at Villa Park during Sunday's Community Shield and it is easy to imagine the reception being much worse at Old Trafford and Loftus Road later in the season.

However, Cech has shared a dressing room with Terry long enough to know the 31-year-old has a mental toughness few can match, and he said: "He is a strong player. He knows that this will go on every time he plays away from home. It won't affect him."

Terry and Cech are a constant to Chelsea's past at a time when they are moving towards the future.

Didier Drogba's departure for China was a catalyst for that and there were encouraging signs at the weekend, at least until the dismissal of Branislav Ivanovic, which he has now discovered will not lead to him missing Chelsea's opening three games as first feared.

Not least of these was the goalscoring contribution of Fernando Torres. The Spain star appeared to be a player revived, producing a display as convincing as any since his eye-watering £50million switch from Liverpool in 2010.

With Eden Hazard settling into life at Stamford Bridge, one rather ludicrous attempted back-heel excepted, and Brazilian Olympic star Oscar soon to make his mark, a revolution is under way, but Cech is adamant the approach that has served Chelsea so well should not be dismissed without a thought.

"We will play a slightly different way but we still want to keep our way of playing which has been very successful over the last eight years," he said.

"You know you have to change players because they are ageing and it is sad to see players leave the club, especially someone like Didier who was a legend here. But that's the way it is.

"We have one or two new players with a lot of hunger and they are about to show they want to win things with us as well."